Solomon: Yao will regain status as elite NBA big man

CommentaryBig man's star power will emerge

JEROME SOLOMON, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle |
August 25, 2010

Yao Ming, the bigger man, the more polished player, won most of the battles against Chuck Hayes.

The banging was real. Knee to thigh, hip to chest, chest to forehead.

That is what you get when you have a 7-6 center against a 6-6 power forward.

Yao Ming, the bigger man, the more polished player, won most of the battles. He should, even if Chuck Hayes is one of the smartest low-post defenders in the NBA. But a 16-month layoff because of foot surgery is a legitimate excuse for not playing well.

Yao has never been one for excuses. The No. 1 pick in 2002 might be injury-prone, but he always has put in full effort to return from injury or improve his game. If anything, he trains too hard.

Dikembe Mutombo told me Yao likes to practice as much as most players like to play. So we shouldn't have been surprised that Yao, cleared by Dr. Tom Clanton to "take part in normal basketball activities with no physical limitations," would look almost game-ready the first time the media were allowed to watch him play in a one-on-one drill at Toyota Center on Tuesday. Not to mention, with season tickets to sell, the Rockets wouldn't roll out a gimpy Yao for the cameras.

Still, impressed is the word of the day.

"I've been going against Yao for two weeks now, and I'm impressed," Hayes said. " I did not think he would be able to move. I figured, that long of a layoff in this game? I thought he'd be rusty. But two weeks working with him, I'm impressed. The big fella can move. He's working hard. He's trying. He's getting himself back together. I'm inspired and impressed by his work ethic."

In answering one question, Yao referred to the upcoming year as the 2009-10 season.

Waiting to rebound

"Wait, I missed that season," he said with a laugh.

Yes he did. And by doing so, he lost his status as an elite NBA big man.

The stars have been aligning elsewhere, and until Carmelo Anthony's camp recently began leaking information that he would be willing to join Yao in Houston, we were beginning to wonder if anyone remembered the Rockets have a star. Meaning they are a star shy of title contention.

Still has touch

It has been so long since we have seen Yao on the basketball court that some of you might have forgotten how good a player he can be.

With his Superman persona and aerial acrobatics, Dwight Howard is the most entertaining center in the NBA, but a healthy Yao Ming is the best in the league.

Yao didn't reclaim that designation in Tuesday's 15-minute workout against Hayes and James Cripe, a 7-footer from the NBA Development League, and there is much progress to be made. But we saw enough from Yao to know he can win back that title.

There is the sweet turnaround jumper, the quick spin to the hole, and the power turn to a virtually unstoppable jump hook. There is the consistent foul shot. And the comes-so-natural, playful trash talk, of which few know Yao is capable, is a sign of his growing confidence.

After draining a contest-winning jumper to shut up the ever-yapping Hayes and send his two opponents on a penalty-for-defeat run up the court and back, Yao said, "Say something, Chuck."

Chuck was defeated.

"His touch hasn't left him," Hayes said. "His footwork is still the same."

Yep, Yao is back.

Unfortunately, the next question is: For how long?

It is fair to ask and could be that way for the rest of Yao's career, considering he has missed 173 of 410 games the past five regular seasons. There is no assurance his body will hold up under the pounding of an NBA season despite the Rockets' plan to limit his minutes.

Precedent set

If Yao responds to his surgery as well as Zydrunas Ilgauskas did to the same procedure, the Rockets will be ecstatic. After a career plagued by major foot injuries, Ilgauskas had the surgery to reshape his foot in 2000 and was out for a year. In the first seven seasons after he returned, he played about 30 minutes a game and missed fewer than four games a season, none due to the foot injury.

Yao hopes his surgery nets similar results.

"It's all been taken care of — remodeled my foot, remade my shoes," Yao said. "There is nothing else we can do, except maybe build a new basketball court."

The NBA has no plans for playing on a trampoline-like floor, so Yao is going to have to do it on the hardwood.

Important phase

"This preseason, this training camp, is going to be crucial for him just to get himself conditioned mentally and physically for the game speed of playing pick-and-roll, running up and down, doing transition offense and defense," Hayes said. "We understand that he's going to get tired, and we understand that he probably won't be able to go as long on some days. But if we can just steadily carry him through this training camp and preseason, by the middle of the season he should be ready to go."